lindsaycb Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 Okay, I'm just getting really freakin' peeved over these damn things. I swear...one or two a day. WTF. :mad: I'm tired of emailing paypal & finding out they're spoofs. COME ON...I need to take my transactions elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudsnwicks Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 I guess these spammers chose paypal as the pretend sender because so many of us have an account with paypal for shopping on ebay or whatever. If you received a fake email from a company you didn't have an account with, it wouldn't tick you off as much, I'm sure. It's just too bad they decided to target paypal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mystical_angel1219 Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 Okay, I'm just getting really freakin' peeved over these damn things. I swear...one or two a day. WTF. :mad: I'm tired of emailing paypal & finding out they're spoofs. COME ON...I need to take my transactions elsewhere.Why bother? IMO, you are allowing yourself to be bothered by this crap.I never open a thing from Paypal. Nothing- I mean NOTHING.If I want to know what is up with my account, I go to the site and log in.I probably get thirty spoofs a week. Spammers are everywhere.Paypal is a prime target. It is a shame some people have nothing better than generate these emails.No, I don't work for Paypal. LMAO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luci Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 I open nothing from Paypal. I forward anything I get to spoof@paypal.com and forget about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowgirl Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 i closed my account with paypal a long time ago. i was going to reopen another one but i am not sure i should do this now. i have read on here where a lot of ppl are using propay. is that any better or just the same with all the spam? i am not familiar with propay at all which generates this question...if i have propay and someone else has paypal and i buy something say off the classifieds can that person accept my payment ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jldorrington Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 honestly if your careful and think before acting on an e-mail your fine opening an acct with paypal... just don't reply or click on links in e-mail... i don't do that most of the time any for anyone i delete most forwards if i don't know the company or person e-mailing me i delete it straight off without opening it (i've prob missed so many online sales its crazy but i don't care). its just a matter of look before you leap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudsnwicks Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 i closed my account with paypal a long time ago. i was going to reopen another one but i am not sure i should do this now. i have read on here where a lot of ppl are using propay. is that any better or just the same with all the spam? i am not familiar with propay at all which generates this question...if i have propay and someone else has paypal and i buy something say off the classifieds can that person accept my payment ?Propay is used by sellers only, whereas paypal is used by both buyers and sellers. With the smaller customer base, it is less likely you'll receive spams pretending to be from propay, as the spammers normally target the biggest companies that most folks would have heard of and be more likely to have an account with. I think you should sign up with whatever suits your needs (e.g. based on sales volume) because like mystical angel said, you can easily just delete those emails without even bothering to open them. I get lots of spam, and most are not from paypal, and it's a matter of deleting them all as there's not much else I can do about it. If I switched to propay I doubt I would see much reduction in spam, especially since I would still be getting the paypal spoofs whether or not I have an account with them. As far as the classifieds, if the seller asks for payment by paypal only (which appears to be fairly common) you would need to have a paypal account to buy their supplies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SherriLynn Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 I don't use Paypal or accept Paypal... I've heard numerous problems from people who have these accounts, regarding privacy,, confidentiality.. etc. There is no way anyone would be getting these spamms or spooofs,, if these companies would quit selling their mailing lists to people... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindsaycb Posted January 31, 2007 Author Share Posted January 31, 2007 I don't open them at all either...but this still irritates the crap out of me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowgirl Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 oh well i guess i won't be getting paypal again because i have outlook express and when i click on a msg to delete it, it automatically opens the msg in the box below my incoming mail box. guess i will have to try to figure out how to change setting (even if i can). oh well maybe there is something else out there to use. i will have to do a search and see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudsnwicks Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 oh well i guess i won't be getting paypal again because i have outlook express and when i click on a msg to delete it, it automatically opens the msg in the box below my incoming mail box. guess i will have to try to figure out how to change setting (even if i can). oh well maybe there is something else out there to use. i will have to do a search and see.When I register for things which can potentially result in spam I give them a free web-based email address such as yahoo. Those won't open the message for you automatically. Plus they have pretty good spam filters so most of the time I don't even get those emails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowgirl Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 ok nevermind, i figured it out lol im blonde today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizbizzyb Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 I don't use Paypal or accept Paypal... I've heard numerous problems from people who have these accounts, regarding privacy,, confidentiality.. etc. There is no way anyone would be getting these spamms or spooofs,, if these companies would quit selling their mailing lists to people...I do work for PayPal...they dont sell information. Think about the telemarketers that call your house - hmmmm...how do they get your info? Someone sells your info - you know those sweepstakes, etc you sign up for? The same with email addresses. Have you ever researched how to advertise on the net? You can buy email addresses, etc. Furthermore do you really know how many people have their name as their email address (making it easier for the spammer to figure out a name and make the email personable - example MarcieBeanbutt@blahblah.com - their email would say Dear Marcie Beanbutt, blah blah blah). This is the internet, information can be found on ANYONE if you know where to look for it. Let's say for kicks they do sell the info (which they do not - I want to make sure that is clear) then can anyone explain why my grandmother gets spoof emails appearing to be from PayPal and she does not have an account. She thought it was me emailing her from work. lol. Poor granny. But I had to tell her not to worry about those cause I rarely - rarely use my work email for anything outside the company.Off my soapbox now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowgirl Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Well that sure does clear up alot. What you said does make sense. I suppose it would be easier to get spam if your name was your actually email addy. I do have one thing to say though. In my yahoo account it is nothing to get 200 spam emails a week. In my regular account thru my isp i don't really get any to speak of, maybe 1 or 2 a week. Recently I closed my account with paypal because I forgot my password when my computer crashed and I no longer do ebay. I did receive a couple of spams in the last 2 yrs. I had that account for probably 6 yrs and unused for the last 3 yrs. I wasn't even for sure how much money was in there. I did open the spam I received because I didn't know any better. I actually thought it was paypal. I remember the subject line was quartler statement which was kinda strange because I had never received that in the past but thought oh well they have changed their program, not a big deal. If I do sign up for it again (which i probably will, too many goodys in the classifieds) I will just not open them, no matter what. Thanks for explaining some things for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SherriLynn Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Lindsay, I got tired of the emails too,,in January of 2006, I called PayPal.,, and told them to delete/cancel my account from their system. I had set up an account in 2001 to take credit cards, but NEVER used it. The customer service rep apologized for any inconviences as I explained how I kept receiving these emails. He assured me there wasn't a breach in their system. I told him, nobody would know I had this account,,unless they were given access to that information. I had never used the account, it was never posted on my website,so it's not public knowledge. I've never received an email , since I placed that call. MizBiz , your granny incident is the first that I've heard about someone receiving paypal information, yet not having an account. I can't imagine why any business would send email information about an "exisiting account" to someone who doesnt' have an account, as that person would simply delete it as spam. Email blasts are costly, and these emails are meant to target those people who have an account, because that's where they'll get their response from. Customers will want to make sure they're account stays active, thus people answer these spam messages and end up in a whole heap of trouble, identity theft.. etc. If this company's policy is "not to sell customer lists" they perhaps need to figure out where that information is getting accessed from. Before opening my business I worked for a large money order corporation and dealt with encoding security. From what I can see there is definately a security issue with this company.. someone is accessing their client list and generating these spam emails from it. I've never been contacted again from this company, once I deleted my account early last year,which tells me the accessing is still going on judging from the comments in these forums. This isn't simple telemarketing, nor is it simple supplying names and addresses to a contest company or birthdates etc, that is all public knowledge and has been done for years.. We are talking confidential, secure accounts. And these emails are targeted to those with accounts and there is only one place that knows who the account holders are. Please keep in mind, this is just my humble opinion, from what I've observed and experienced in my business world. :highfive: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudsnwicks Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 MizBiz , your granny incident is the first that I've heard about someone receiving paypal information, yet not having an account. I don't remember if I was receiving paypal spoofs before I got my account with them, but I was definitely receiving ebay spoof emails plus some others from places such as banks (which I didn't have an account with). So the granny incident does not surprise me at all.I can't imagine why any business would send email information about an "exisiting account" to someone who doesnt' have an account, as that person would simply delete it as spam. I think it is because they are clever (to be able to generate these spoof emails) but not that clever (to be able to figure out which addresses correspond to actual account holders). Except for the paypal spoof emails, all the other fake emails I receive are from companies where I don't have an account with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SherriLynn Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Good points Suds,,, Wow,,I've been in business for 12 years, and have never had an email spoof regarding an "account".. other than the paypal thing... I carry several biz credit cards,, have my own shopping basket with credit cards.. and other than offers for credit cards,, or the get rich quick offers to sell my stuff on ebay the usual junk you find in your email, I have never had anyone say they are contacting me regarding "my account".. Gosh, if they had.. I'd be on the phone and checking to see and tracing where that info might have come from...(dont' get me thinkin' now.. LOL"...), reporting abuse of email.. etc. I mean.. I do everything online, from ordering to bill paying, sending cards etc. With all that.. this was the only spoof I had. This scam company must have quite an operating budget that they could send out tons and tons of emails, searching for a handful of people, who use these types of "money transfer" accounts. I'm sorta thinkin' that a scam company would target someone like mastercard or visa, some sort of "account" that almost every has. Hmmmm... I mentioned before.. I've never had another email,, since I closed that account. It's liike.. the mailing list got updated and my name was dropped off...which leads me to believe, there a current list of account holders someplace... Dang... they always have to give us something to think about.. huh?? Where is Mission Impossible when ya need them.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudsnwicks Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 I'm sorta thinkin' that a scam company would target someone like mastercard or visa, some sort of "account" that almost every has. Hmmmm... Yup, that's the idea. That's why places like paypal, ebay, and major banks are being targeted. Paypal may not be the ideal payment processor but it's not their fault about these spoofs and they should not be blamed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 I don't open them at all either...but this still irritates the crap out of me.Relax. Course you could just keep forwarding them to paypal and then figure out a way to bounce the mechanical reply so you don't have to see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SherriLynn Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 An interesting concept Suds.... From the marketing end, I would think they'd be broke in no time, with this hit and miss methodology. I mean one could send out thousands upon thousands of emails, and perhaps get one hit, from someone who has an account. But it does give us another outlook on what could be happening in the industry... I know consumer lists, accounts etc., have been an ongoing security concern for years with the integration of the internet... just this week this same conversation came up on one of my supplier boards as several received this "spoof"... which still leads me to believe there a list integrity issue as these people are "current" account people... then again, one really never knows. It's only my speculation. I think it's great that we have a place, such as these forums, to discuss issues like these, and brainstorm a little, share experiences. It keeps us healthy in our businesses... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudsnwicks Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 SherriLynn, depending on how they do it, they might not get broke. Sending emails are free, you only pay for the internet connection. Obviously it would take a real person a lot of time to send out all of these emails, but not if a hacker programmed them to send automatically. As to where they get these email addresses from, the free way would be from those joke emails which are forwarded around a lot and have a lot of addresses listed on them. Or maybe they purchased a mailing list from somewhere. I would hope they did not obtain it by hacking into paypal's database. It is unfortunate that these big companies are being targeted, and as a result, it is possible you might be safer going with a smaller & less well known payment processor assuming fewer hackers would be interested in them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizbizzyb Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 SheriLynn,I talk to several people a day that1. Never heard of PayPal2. Dont have an account3. Had an account and it has been long closedThey receive spoof emails and they freak out because some unknown company is charging their card for $xx.xx or adding an email addy to their account or they had suspicious activity on their account and they don't have an account.Just today I got an email to update my Chase account - hmmmm, I dont have a chase acct. While majority of us sleep these idiots don't. I think PayPal is a bigger target cause of the millions of account they have. An average bank is not going to have that many customers. (I may be off, but just giving my $.02 - can I get change...lmao). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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